The Role Of African Americans During The Civil War

There were many slaves that were freed from the South throughout the Civil War. From the earliest days of the war, Southern Slaveholders began twisting the imagination of that of his slaves. The Slaveholder would describe a Union soldier in a foul way to distort the truth and make his slaves more dependent on both the protection of their owners and to get the slaves to support the Confederacy. One Tennessee slave was told by his master that Union soldiers, “got long horns on their heads, and tushes (pointed teeth) in their mouth and eyes sticking out like a cow! They’re mean old things.” Many slaves had their minds made up for them about Union soldiers, for they believed their owners. However, what reasons do they have not to trust them? Their …show more content…
The freeing of four million slaves is one of the most important events in American history. To grasp both the most precise and compelling stories of the Freed People, the Freed People had to either write their stories on paper in personal diaries and journals or publish their stories, which could have a hefty price along with that. Slaves were the occupants of the lowest level in America’s social and economic scale. They were on the “bottom rail of the fence” said one black soldier. The lack of both a social and economic standing has made it quite difficult for historians to recover the most accurate Freedman’s view. The fact of the matter is that in the South, Slave Codes denied the education of black people and slaves. This meant that they would have a significantly smaller chance at success. Without education, it is quite difficult to read nor write. It’s hard to record personal experiences without those skills. Wealthy and educated white people were apt to keep diaries and journals of their experiences, whether it be the observation of slavery, the opposition of slavery, or the support of slavery. It was easier to get those records since wealthy people tended to be educated. Not only was it a struggle to reconstruct the nation after the Civil War, but reconstructing the perspective of those former black slaves was also …show more content…
Slaves could be punished in the most raucous way for the most minuscule things. Masters could even punish their slaves for both the fun of it and to show off their dominance. Forms of punishment could come from whipping, branding, inhumane working hours, and the classic beating. It was cruel and disgusting. The worst part of this relationship was that the master could easily sell of parts of a family. Family was the keystone to what kept the slaves going everyday. Kinships and family networks were one the, if not THE most important part of their lives. The master could both sell them at any moment and use the slave’s family as a tool to make the slave work harder. Masters could also have slave mistresses in which they would rape and violate the slave women. However, the slaves had to obey the master’s authority. Slaves would more often than not hide their true feelings so that they would not feel the wrath of the master and suffer the harsh consequences. Mary Chesnut, the wife of a Southern Legislator and surrounded by slaves, kept a very detailed diary throughout the Civil War, giving historians today the viewpoint of White Southerners during the war and how their views would change about slaves as the war went on. Views could change in both a positive and negative way. Some people felt malice towards the slaves and some felt sympathy. Some, like Mary Chesnut, begin to question, “Are they stolidly stupid,